The present invention relates to the manufacture of pallets. In particular, the invention relates to an automated apparatus and method for manufacturing pallets from wooden boards in a safe and efficient manner.
Pallets, particularly wooden pallets, are an indispensable part of industrial and commercial shipping, handling and storage of goods. Pallets are typically formed of a number of spaced, parallel boards or xe2x80x9cstringersxe2x80x9d connected by a number of spaced, parallel deck boards that are situated perpendicular to the stringers. A pallet has at least one deck in which deck boards are attached (e.g., nailed) to one side of the stringers. As used herein the term pallet means a set of stringers having at least one deck. More commonly, deck boards are attached to both sides of the stringers thereby creating a two-deck pallet. The apparatus and method according to the invention includes the manufacture of both single and double deck pallets.
The demand for pallets is never ceasing. This demand is responsible for the development of several machines and methods for automating and increasing the efficiency of pallet manufacture. The majority of these devices fall into two types: large, expensive machines that require substantial space and capital or smaller machines that are not operator friendly or require unnecessary manual labor. U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,439 to Dykeman is an example of the former and U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,106 is an example of the latter. Furthermore, many of the known devices utilize designs that add unnecessary safety risks to the operator such as arms that can fall on an operator""s hands as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,575 to Self or free-falling pallets as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,492,016 to Smets et al and 5,058,795 to Tonus.
Accordingly, a need exists for a pallet manufacturing machine that is compact, economical, efficient and operator friendly. Preferably, the machine requires only one operator and minimizes the physical labor required by the operator. Additionally, the machine should minimize the safety risks to the operator by channeling movement of the pallet away from the operator rather than towards the operator or perpendicular to the operator.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for efficiently, quickly and safely manufacturing pallets. A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for manufacturing pallets that is economical in terms of capital investment and manpower. These and additional objects are met by the apparatus and method of the claimed invention.
A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises an apparatus for manufacturing pallets comprising an assembly table. The assembly table comprises means for supporting a plurality of stringers situated in a common plane. The apparatus further comprises means for arranging a plurality of deck boards transversely across the stringers and means for fastening the deck boards to the stringers to form a pallet. The apparatus also comprises a transitioning means for lowering the assembly table from an inclined position to a substantially horizontal position where the pallet engages with a conveyor which transfers the pallet to subsequent processing stations.
A further embodiment of the invention is a method for manufacturing pallets. The method according to the invention comprises positioning a plurality of stringers on an inclined assembly table and traversing the stringers with a first plurality of deck boards. The deck boards are then fastened (i.e., nailed) to the stringers to form a pallet. The assembly table is then lowered from an inclined position to a substantially horizontal position whereby the pallet engages with a conveyor. The pallet is then transferred from the horizontally positioned assembly table to subsequent processing stations.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention and the manner in which the same are accomplished will become clearer based on the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: